Richard Taylor: I tried to work out the whole combo in myhed so tosapek adn itwas veryhard to remeber aht hte c5pawnws and where the knightwas but it was possible. But OTB it would be almost impossible without an hour to spare. But it was a great combination using positional and tactical nous. Petrosian was quite young then so maybe he dis see most of it. Very creative.

This shows he had a deep overall view of chess (as do all the great players). Spassky even said (notes about Tigran on here)you never knew when he would play like Tal.

Could Tal play like Petrosain and Botvinnik? Probably but his "bent" was combinations.

Yes h5 undermines White's k-side

[Another amazing game is Fischer -Petrsian that was a draw but both players got two queens!

Abdel Irada: <dabearsrock1010>: I knew the Bears were among the oldest teams in the NFL, but I had no idea they were *that* old.

Then again, I never considered that perhaps Pope Sylvester II proclaimed the NGL (National Gladiatory League) in A.D. 1000 as an act of thanksgiving because the world didn't end, pitting the Bears against the Pagans in Gladiator Bowl DCLXXVIII. Then, upon his election, Pope Sergius IV carried on the tradition with slight modifications, resulting in the earliest NFL Thanksgiving game.

Richard Taylor: <backrank> Yes, I was wrong, I looked this game up in the book by P H Clarke of Petrosian's games and it is 20 moves and Petrosian did indeed calculate all the main lines including that finish to 20 moves!

I've seen a combination by Emmanuel Lasker that was calculated 25 moves.

Howard: Not to brag, gentleman, (I ain't that kind of guy.) but I personally was the one who nominated this game for GOTD. But I CANNOT take any credit---if you look at the kibitzing for Petrosian--Spassky 12th game, 1966, someone named ARKIN strongly recommended the Petrosian-Guimard game. So thank HIM--not me.

But then I'll admit this---I've always been a Petrosian fan, so my nomination did contain some biasness.

PawnSac: Well, black IS up a knight, so one can understand his trying to avoid the draw (60. ..Kb5 61.Qb7 Kc5 62.Qa7 Kb5 etc.). It’s just unfortunate for him (and lucky for Petrosian) that Na6 falls to white’s last remaining resource in this beautiful contest. Going toe to toe with Tigran is like wrestling a bear. I suspect Guimard was exhausted and caved in at the very end. But even if it ended a draw, it would have been one of the most exciting draws in history.

Gilmoy: Black's Ns get beautiful outposts at b4/d5. White's play is quietly startling: he lets it happen, ignores them, and lurks on his own Qe4 outpost. Slowly it dawns that Black's advanced Ns are a flaw, or at best an incomplete grade: he has no open lines to inject any follow-up sorties to benefit from his Ns' forward control. So his Ns end up in his own way, and his set-up lacks oomph. Be careful what you wish for!

With time and patience, White's QN takes a mazy tour: <2.Nc3 16.Na2 17.Nc1 23.Ne2 25.Ng1 26.Nf3 30.Nd2 40.Nf3 45.Nd4> (where it becomes a sac-bait). It's fairly amazing that Black never could create a threat during this, but that emphasizes Black's passivity.

<27..h6> is like ice melting: it telegraphs Bg5. <30.Nd2> subtly devalues that: it turns h6 into a pure structural weakness. White already plans the "sac" of R for B+P+long diagonal, which further devalues Bg5 itself: it's a (tempo) trap! After <37..f5> Black's K-side has sprung leaks. Backward e6 is an obvious target for slow pressure -- but any pin-dogpile duel is a springboard for tactics, if you can step out of it beyond the other guy's horizon.

The K-hunt is startling: "of course" White has the Rd4 whenever, but first he uncorks an Immortal Zwieschenzug deluge of checks. The final deflection-sacs <55.a5+> and <61.b4+> surely must have been well-studied by all subsequent WCs: it evokes Kasparov's c3+ (that Topalov missed).

Black must give his R: 65..Ra8 66.Qa3+, or 65..Re7 66.Qa7+. It was fairly easy for Black to judge this whole subtree as a loss, so really <60..Na6> was his only hope (and apparently he played it instantly, without bothering to calculate whether it, too, was a loss -- or as one last swindle-try).

The sheer carnage is part of the charm: with <46.h5> White is offering (ignoring the forced check-recapture on g6) all six white units satisfying y >= x (heh) for three black units (f5, Ne4, Rd4). The forced loss of a 4th Black unit (Na6) makes it all work.

beatgiant: <RookFile>
You mean move 35? White had the extra passed a-pawn, the bishop pair, and Black's weakened kingside. I don't know about you, but Petrosian would have surely beaten me from that position.

profK: There must have been faith...why do I say that? Because the combination rests with the final death blow of 61.b4+....Could this have been seen 20 moves earlier? I don't think so.... Judgement and fancy play a big role in long combos !!

maxi: Thank you, <beatgiant>. Well, maybe now that this game has made GOTD it will be more appreciated and be eventually included as a Notable Game. And everybody should check out game Petrosian vs Gufeld, 1960 that may also deserve that honor. It is not a flashy game, like the one where he beats Spassky sacrificing two exchanges, but the ideas are interesting.

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